compensation

[glynn-kayes]

last thursday,whilst doing my job selling tickets at man, i was approached by 2 pax who had checked in for their flight at minus 25 mins.they were not happy at all as they had to sit apart and wanted compensation for their inconvenience,when i looked at their their reservation they had paid gbp12.50 for their their flight so i would like some views from others as my opinion is that a clause should be introduced that under a certain fare level <say 50 quid rtn>we dont reroute refund accomodate or supply meal vouchers in event of delay...or canx as in my view people are becoming compensation happy,and expecting more for less?

[topper2]

Well, at the end of the day a fare is a fare. However, If they checked in 25 mins late (stupid to say the least) they should appreciate that planes fill up!

Where in the contract does it say that you may sit with your chosen fellow passenger? The airline will carry you from A to B and there is your money's worth! I mean what more do people want?

I dont work in ticket sales (student pilot) but I cannot see how someone can complain about something so trivial and actually get compensation for it

surely it is the passenger's responsibility to to arrive on time in order to secure the seat they booked!?

[AverageJoe]

It realy is funny that people expect and demand things when it comes to air travel, and not with any other form of transport.
How many of us expect to be given meal vouchers, or a hotel when the train from Victoria to Manchester is delayed for hours, or even cancelled. How about when the commuters going in to London have to accept cancelations of trains because of works on track etc.? Do you expect the companies to pay for your taxi? Travelling by bus is the same thing, sometimes the bus is late and you arrive at destination 6-7 hours later than expected. Does anyone expect compensation from the bus companies while waiting for a delayed bus? I think that all of us have to realize that traveling by air is just like any other transport service and just as things evolve so should our views and expectations. I am sure that the travelling public in the early 1900s expected compensation from the train company if anything out of the ordinary happened. As the economy grows and more an more people travel the transport sector changes aswell. In the early 1900s trains were for the rich, up until recently so was air travel. These days however, with many private small airlines, with the LCCs and even with the big carriers introducing low fares you cannot expect to have everything. You can either have cheap tickets, or you can pay high fares and enjoy all the things you think you get for free such as meal vouchers hotels etc, if your airplane is delayed or the flight is cancelled. There is no Santa Clause in consumer transactions, someone somewhere pays for it.

[Departures Beckham]

A couple of weeks back I was asked by a pap for LRV's because their flight was delayed for an hour, my response was ... "Unfortunately there will be no vouchers for such a short delay, but don't worry, we wont be charging you any extra for spending more time in our airport".

[BillTheCoach]

We have never charged for our famous "Night Time tours of the Peak District " (aka hotacs) - perhaps the tour operators should have reps in the check-in queues selling these as optional excursions in the event of delayed flights.....

Passengers are never happy with how delayed flights are managed - read the history of Court Line and you see that pax were complaining in the same way in 1972 as they are today.

In dealing with re-routes, delays and diversions we see pax at their worst and can easily identify who will be trouble makers. The most gentle people can become monsters when their flight is delayed. How many times have we all heard the " I've lost half a day of my holiday...and I want compensation " ?

In my years in dealing with delays the best thing to do is to point out that :

1. There is no compromise on aircaft safety
2. There is no airline equivalent of Hertz

These are usually quite effective in giving the distressed pax a reality check.

Bill The Coach - Britain's lowest flying airline !

[MerchantVenturer]

Whilst I agree that we are becoming compensation-crazy in the UK (we seem to follow the US slavishly in all things) and the people highlighted at the beginning of this thread are the worst (or best, I suppose) examples, it is not always true to say that compensation is not offered in other modes of public transport.

Last week I travelled by rail from Bristol to Penzance with Virgin Cross Country. It was a day trip but when I returned to Penzance Station in mid afternoon I learned that my return Virgin train had been cancelled. The reason was a fatality on the line in Somerset that had caused cancellations and delays for most of the day.

Without asking I was given a pre-paid Virgin compensation form by the enquiry agent at Penzance Station. In fact, all the Virgin passengers (and Wessex Trains passengers) were allowed on the next train out of Penzance which was a late-running First Great Western service to Paddington. We were kept informed during the journey by the very efficient FGW train manager who eventually told us that a Virgin train to Bristol and the north was being held at Plymouth for us.

We transferred to this train and I arrived back in Bristol only an hour late. I cannot commend all the railway staff highly enough. The fatality was not Virgin’s fault so I shall not be claiming any compensation.